(a) Any person who negligently commits any of the offenses set
out in subdivisions (1) through (10) of G.S. 143-215.104P(a) shall be guilty of
a Class 2 misdemeanor, which may include a fine not to exceed fifteen thousand
dollars ($15,000) per day of violation, provided that the fine shall not exceed
a cumulative total of two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) for each period
of 30 days during which a violation continues.

(b) Any person who knowingly and willfully commits any of the
offenses set out in subdivisions (1) through (10) of G.S. 143-215.104P(a) shall
be guilty of a Class I felony, which may include a fine not to exceed one
hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) per day of violation, provided that this
fine shall not exceed a cumulative total of five hundred thousand dollars
($500,000) for each period of 30 days during which the violation continues. For
the purposes of this subsection, the phrase "knowingly and willfully"
shall mean "intentionally and consciously" as the courts of this
State, according to the principles of common law, interpret the phrase in the
light of reason and experience.

(c) (1) Any person who knowingly commits
any of the offenses set out in subdivisions (3) through (10) of G.S. 143-215.104P(a)
and who knows at that time that he thereby places another person in imminent
danger of death or serious bodily injury shall be guilty of a Class C felony,
which may include a fine not to exceed two hundred fifty thousand dollars
($250,000) per day of violation, provided that this fine shall not exceed a
cumulative total of one million dollars ($1,000,000) for each period of 30 days
during which the violation continues.

(2) For the purposes of this subsection, a person's state of
mind is knowing with respect to:

a. His conduct, if he is aware of the nature of his conduct.

b. An existing circumstance, if he is aware or believes that
the circumstance exists.

c. A result of his conduct, if he is aware or believes that his
conduct is substantially certain to cause danger of death or serious bodily
injury.

(3) Under this subsection, the following should be considered in
determining whether a defendant who is a natural person knew that his conduct
placed another person in imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury:

a. The person is responsible only for actual awareness or
actual belief that he possessed, and

b. Knowledge possessed by a person other than the defendant but
not by the defendant himself may not be attributed to the defendant.

(4) It is an affirmative defense to a prosecution under this
subsection that the conduct charged was conduct consented to by the person
endangered and that the danger and conduct charged were reasonably foreseeable
hazards of an occupation, a business or profession, or of medical treatment or
medical or scientific experimentation conducted by professionally approved
methods, and the person had been made aware of the risks involved prior to
giving consent. The defendant may establish an affirmative defense under this
subdivision by a preponderance of the evidence.

(d) No proceeding shall be brought or continued under this
section for or on account of a violation by any person who has previously been
convicted of a federal violation based upon the same set of facts.

(e) In proving the defendant's possession of actual knowledge,
circumstantial evidence may be used, including evidence that the defendant took
affirmative steps to shield himself from relevant information. Consistent with
the principles of common law, the subjective mental state of defendants may be
inferred from their conduct.

(f) For the purposes of the felony provisions of this section, a
person's state of mind shall not be found "knowingly and willfully"
or "knowingly" if the conduct that is the subject of the prosecution
is the result of any of the following occurrences or circumstances:

(1) A natural disaster or other act of God that could not have
been prevented or avoided by the exercise of due care or foresight.

(2) An act of third parties other than agents, employees,
contractors, or subcontractors of the defendant.

(3) An act done in reliance on the written advice or emergency
on-site direction of an employee of the Department. In emergencies, oral advice
may be relied upon if written confirmation is delivered to the employee as soon
as practicable after receiving and relying on the advice.

(4) An act causing no significant harm to the environment or
risk to public health, safety, or welfare and done in compliance with other
conflicting environmental requirements or other constraints imposed in writing
by environmental agencies or officials after written notice is delivered to all
relevant agencies that the conflict exists and will cause a violation of the
identified standard.

(5) Violations causing no significant harm to the environment or
risk to public health, safety, or welfare for which no enforcement action or
civil penalty could have been imposed under any written civil enforcement
guidelines in use by the Department at the time. This subdivision shall not be
construed to require the Department to develop or use written civil enforcement
guidelines.

(6) Occasional, inadvertent, short-term violations causing no
significant harm to the environment or risk to public health, safety, or
welfare. If the violation occurs within 30 days of a prior violation or lasts
for more than 24 hours, it is not an occasional, short-term violation.

(g) All general defenses, affirmative defenses, and bars to
prosecution that may apply with respect to other criminal offenses under law
may apply to prosecutions brought under this section or other criminal statutes
that refer to this section and shall be determined by the courts of this State
according to the principles of common law as they may be applied in light of
reason and experience. Concepts of justification and excuse applicable under
this section may be developed in light of reason and experience.

(h) All general defenses, affirmative defenses, and bars to
prosecution that may apply with respect to other criminal offenses under law
may apply to prosecutions brought under this section or other criminal statutes
that refer to this section and shall be determined by the courts of this State
according to the principles of common law as they may be applied in light of
reason and experience. Concepts of justification and excuse applicable under
this section may be developed in light of reason and experience.

(i) For purposes of this section, the term "person"
means, in addition to the definition contained in G.S. 143-212, any responsible
corporate or public office or employee. If a vote of the people is required to
effectuate the intent and purpose of this Article by a county, city, town, or
other political subdivision of the State and the vote on the referendum is
against the means or machinery for carrying out the intent and purpose, then
this section shall not apply to elected officials or to any responsible
appointed officials or employees of the county, city, town, or other political
subdivision. (1997-392, s. 1.)